Speaking Our Peace

Directed by Terre Nash and Bonnie Sherr Klein

Canada, 1985 (documentary, 55 minutes, colour, English)

Also known as "Women, Peace and Power"

Image: © National Film Board of Canada

Film Description:
"Filmed in Canada, Britain and the U.S.S.R., this hour-long documentary focuses on local and international peace initiatives by women. Featured in the film are Rosalie Bertell, Marion Dewar, Muriel Duckworth, Ursula M. Franklin, Darlene Keju, Margaret Laurence, Solanges Vincent and Kathleen Wallace-Deering. In interviews and in encounters with Soviet women, they outline their views on war and peace. The film includes scenes of women in mass demonstrations at Litton Systems Canada and at Greenham Common in England, as well as footage of ordinary citizens who must live with the health and environmental problems caused by uranium mining and nuclear weapons testing."
-- National Film Board of Canada (source)

Film Credits (partial):
Written by:	Gloria Demers, Gwynne Basen, Bonnie Sherr Klein, Terre Nash
Produced by:	Bonnie Sherr Klein, Margaret Pettigrew, Kathleen Shannon
Narrator:	Margot Kidder
Cinematography:	Susan Trow, Sandi Sissel
Film Editing:	Janice Brown
Music:	Judy Henderson
Production Company:	National Film Board of Canada / Office national du film du Canada

(sources)

Quote by the Director

"Terri and I undertook to make Speaking Our Peace (1985)—a film about women, peace, and power—because we wanted to go beyond fear and look at the causes of war and the possibility of alternatives. We discovered a long, rich history connecting women and peace. We found women who were asking different—and I think more fundamental—questions."
-- Bonnie Sherr Klein (source)

Quotes about Speaking Our Peace

"Speaking Our Peace is an important film because it forces its audience to come to terms with the fact that an insidious 'death process' underlies the arms race. As Dr. Rosalie Bertell, a biostatistician and Roman Catholic nun points out, destroying the land, the air and the water while simultaneously damaging the gene pool is a serious threat to life unless it is recognized as such and counteracted."
-- Judith Finlayson (source)

"The drama and the undeniable power of the film Speaking Our Peace (CBC, Tuesday at 8 p.m.) is in its understatement. Clean-cut and unfettered by special effects, this one-hour National Film Board documentary—portraying a handful of accomplished Canadian women speaking out against militarism and, in particular, the nuclear arms race—is an expression of commitment, dedication and hope. Most important, it is an unusual perspective on the problems of this nuclear age, one that barely gets an arena; it is a women's perspective, after all."
-- Margaret Mironowicz (source)

Bibliography for Speaking Our Peace

Journal Articles

Roach Pierson, Ruth. "Media Review." Review of Speaking Our Peace. Canadian Woman Studies / Les Cahiers de la femme 7, no. 3 (Autumn 1986): 110-112.

Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites

Finlayson, Judith. "Facing nuclear realities." Review of Speaking Our Peace. Globe and Mail, May 25, 1985.
Gollan, Donna. "Nurturing sensibilities." Review of Speaking Our Peace. Broadside, June 1985.
Groen, Rick. "War and peace through female eyes." Review of Speaking Our Peace. Globe and Mail, August 6, 1985.
Mironowicz, Margaret. "Speaking Our Peace is simply eloquent." Review of Speaking Our Peace. Globe and Mail, August 3, 1985.
Nelson, Joyce. "Speaking Our Peace." Review of Speaking Our Peace. Cinema Canada, July-August 1985.
Steed, Judy. "Moviemakers with a message: Save the world." Interview with Bonnie Sherr Klein, Terre Nash, Dorothy Rosenberg. Globe and Mail, March 2, 1984.

Web Sites about Speaking Our Peace

National Film Board of Canada. "NFB -- Speaking Our Peace." National Film Board of Canada. http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=15297.